Hunter
This article is a description of the character class '''Hunter'. For a description of the role of hunters within the lore of Warcraft, see Hunter (lore). ''For related articles, see Category:Hunters. Overview The Hunter is a vicious damage dealer, but mainly at range. Hunters have pets that add to their dps and help manage aggro. Hunters track, tame and slay animals and beasts found in the wild. Hunters consider their weapons and pets to be their only true friends. *The Hunter tames wild beasts of Azeroth, training them to fight at their side. The Hunter and the Warlock are the only two classes that have combat pets. The Hunter is the only class that can name their pets, while warlock pets get generated names. *The Hunter excels in outdoor survival skills, such as tracking and laying traps. While they can deal moderate melee damage, they are built for ranged attack. *The Hunter is only capable of wearing leather and cloth armor to start with; at level 40, they gain access to Mail armor. Most Hunters start with an axe or dagger and a gun or bow. With training, they can learn almost any other weapon skills. *The Hunter has few magical abilities that require mana, such as pet healing or special shots, but their mana pools are not as large as the dedicated spell casters. *The Hunter can take on various Animal Aspects that grant special abilities, such as increased dodge, improved run speed, or even resistance. Races The Hunter class can be played by the following races: Alliance * Dwarves * Night Elves * Draenei ''(Draenei are not playable until the release of the 'The Burning Crusade' expansion) Horde * Orcs * Tauren * Trolls * Blood Elves (Blood Elves are not playable until the release of the 'The Burning Crusade' expansion) Talents and Abilities Hunters have a vast range of talents and abilities. These can be roughly categorised into the following: Ranged Fighting Ranged fighting requires a choice between a gun, bow or a crossbow. When starting, this will depend on your race. Dwarves and Tauren will be given guns, and the other races get bows. Later, you can train in the other ranged weapon types too. Guns use bullets, while bows and crossbows use arrows. There are no bowyer or fletcher professions, so archers rely on shop vendors, mob drops and quests for purchasing their bows and arrows. Thorium Shells are made by engineers and are the best ammo that you can use. They can be turned into Thorium Headed Arrows by an NPC inside the inn close to the Ironforge bank, or in Orgrimmar in the Valley of Honor. Technically, Doomshot and Miniature Cannon Balls are the best ammunition in the game, but they are only available as drops off instance bosses and aren't practical to use all the time. Guns and bullets can both be made by engineers, which opens up the choices a little more. Whichever you choose, try to get a scope (made by engineers) to increase the damage, and buy the best ammunition you can afford. For further information see the Hunter Tactics page. Stings Like Warlocks and their curses, Hunters have stings, specialized debuffs to help them address specific situations. * Scorpid Sting - Reduces Strength and Agility * Serpent Sting - Causes damage over time * Viper Sting - Drains mana over time * Wyvern Sting - Sleeps target and causes damage over time Melee Fighting When in battle, try to stay at range. In PvE, your pet can taunt enemies for you to keep their attention, using the growl pet skill. In PvP battle you will have to rely on your other abilities, such as laying traps and using Wing Clip. Hunters can also Raptor Strike for additional melee damage but it is still not viable for sustained damage compared to their ranged abilities. Combat Pets Pets are the most important tools in the hands of a hunter. They serve as aggro-management (at higher levels pets will have difficulties holding aggro), additional DPS and tanking. Many beast can be tamed and each offers a set of available active skills (there are special abilities just for wolves, just for cats, etc). In addition, certain pet types are tanking oriented (such as bears), and others are DPS oriented (such as cats and owls). Combined with the diversity of armor, stamina and Resistance buffs, it allows quite a great deal of customability. Many hunters have dedicated pets for Molten Core, PVP, tanking, and so on. Hunters can start taming pets at level 10 by completing a short series of quests. They are able to control the pet through various commands. Although hunters can only have one active pet at a time, stables can be used to house additional pets. See more at Hunter's pets. Traps Hunters have five different types of traps available for use. * Explosive Trap - Causes Fire damage to multiple targets * Freezing Trap - Freezes a single target * Frost Trap - Slows multiple targets * Immolation Trap - Causes Fire damage to a single target * Snake Trap - Summons snakes to attack one target Aspects Hunters have seven aspects at their disposal. * Aspect of the Beast - Makes hunter untrackable * Aspect of the Cheetah - Increases run speed * Aspect of the Hawk - Increases ranged attack power * Aspect of the Monkey - Increases chance to dodge * Aspect of the Pack - Increases run speed of the party * Aspect of the Viper - Increases mana regeneration * Aspect of the Wild - Increases Nature resistance Tracking Hunters can track different types of units. * Track Beasts * Track Demons * Track Dragonkin * Track Elementals * Track Giants * Track Hidden * Track Humanoids * Track Undead Hunter Talents Talents are a way to specialize your character by enhancing your skills and/or learning new skills. From level 10 onwards you will receive a talent point every time you gain a level. There are three categories for Hunter Talents: *Beast Mastery *Marksmanship *Survival For further information see Hunter Talents and Hunter Talent Discussion. Level by Level Hunter Enhancements Level 1 Survival: Raptors Strike (rank 1) Level 2 Survival: Track Beasts Level 4 Beast Mastery: Aspect of the Monkey Marksmenship: Serpent Sting (rank 1) Level 6 Marksmenship Arcane Shot (rank 1) Hunters Mark (rank 1) Level 8 Marksmenship Concussive Shot Survival Raptors Strike (rank 2) Level 10 Marksmenship Serpent Sting (rank 2) Survival Track Humanoids Beast Mastery Aspect of the Hawk (rank 1) Level 12 Marksmenship Arcane Shot (rank 2) Distracting Shot Survival Wing Clip (rank 1) Beast Mastery Mend Pet (rank 1) Level 14 Marksmenship none Survival none Beast Mastery Eagle Eye Eyes of the Beast Scare Beast (rank 1) Level 16 Marksmenship none Survival Immolation Trap (rank 1) Mongoose Bite (rank 1) Raptor Strike (rank 1) Beast Mastery none Level 18 Marksmenship Multi-Shot (rank 1) Serpent Sting (rank 3) Survival Track Undead Beast Mastery Aspect of the Hawk (rank 2) Mend Pet (rank 2) Attributes Armor Hunters can use Cloth Armor and Leather Armor. At level 40 they can use Mail Armor too, after training. Hunter Armor Sets The Hunter's Armor sets are as follows: * Beaststalker Armor (Tier 0) * Beastmaster Armor (Tier 0.5) * Giantstalker Armor (Tier 1) * Dragonstalker Armor (Tier 2) * Cryptstalker Armor (Tier 3) * Predator's Armor (Zul'Gurub, requires Zandalar Tribe reputation) * Trappings of the Unseen Path (Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, requires Cenarion Circle reputation) * Striker's Garb (Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, requires Brood of Nozdormu reputation) Weapons Hunters are capable of learning how to use Bows, Guns, Crossbows, Thrown Weapons, Daggers, Axes, Fist Weapons, Swords, Polearms, Staves, Two-Handed Axes and Two-Handed Swords. The only weapons they cannot use are Wands and one-handed and two-handed Maces. Upon reaching level 20, Hunters can learn the skill Dual Wield. A comprehensive list of the best ranged weapons a Hunter can use at level 60, along with detailed information about them (up to date as of patch 1.10 when Hunters have been normalized), can be found at http://www.groovylick.com/wow/28nerf2.gif. A comprehensive list of the best melee weapons a Hunter can use at level 60, along with detailed information about their effect on ranged damage, can be found at http://wow.stoneform.org/hunterweapons.jpg. A derivation of the above hunter weapon link is also available at: http://hometown.aol.com/tahlvain/Surv.html and one for hunters without Lightning Reflexes http://hometown.aol.com/tahlvain/Marks.html. Starting Stats Attribute Conversions Following statistics are based on all (patch 1.12.x) level 60 hunters with both melee and range skills at 300. Levels below 60 also apply. 7 Agility = 1 Dps 14 Ranged Attack Power = 1 Dps 53.00 Agility = +1% Critical 26.50 Agility = +1% Dodge 55.00 Intellect = +1% Spell Critical 10 Strength is equal to: 10 Melee Attack Power 10 Agility is equal to: +10 Ranged Attack Power (changed in 2.0) +10 Melee Attack Power +20 Armor 10 Stamina = 100 Health 10 Intellect = 150 Mana 10 Spirit = 2 Mana per Tick Burning Crusade changes Mechanics In the upcoming expansion, the hunter class will get several major mechanics changes: 1 AP per Agility rather than 2; significantly more crit per point of Agility than before; more dodge per point of Agility than before; and ranged weapons have had their damage values significantly increased. Source Possible new pets There is a strong possibility Outland will offer several new hunter pets to choose from: : "Someone asked if there will be new tameable creatures in the Outlands, and they responded 'that's a good question... yes'." Source: BlizzCon Art Panel However, Blizzard has yet to confirm any specifics. Things hunters should remember Always keep an eye on your bullets or arrows; you don't want to run out of ammo in the middle of a fight. In instances, hunters have the ability to remove all the threat they have generated on a target via Feign Death. In higher level instances, Feign Death is best used to drop aggro after you gain it. As a hunter, you use a lot of bullets or arrows. It's more cost-effective to buy them at a vendor than to craft them or buy them on the auction house. At level 60, it's more cost-effective to buy Accurate Slugs or Jagged Arrows for most fights, while carrying some Thorium Shells or Thorium Headed Arrows for boss battles. Hunters that have acquired Honored reputation with their side's Alterac Valley faction can purchase the more powerful Ice Threaded Bullet and Ice Threaded Arrow from the supply officer. Being Revered with them will also allow you to purchase the Gnoll Skin Bandolier and Harpy Hide Quiver, which are nice pre-raid assets. The bandolier is the best ammo pouch in the game, and the quiver is second only to the Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina. Pets are nice, but keep a close eye on them; one wrong click can very well get you - and the party - killed. So set your pet on passive mode. The "OMG HUNTER LOOT" joke exists for a reason. Don't forget that you share your gear class with many other classes, both before and beyond level 40. It's very unlikely that you're the only person who needs any given drop. Even with ranged weapons, you'll get lots of competition. Hunters can learn to use every weapon in the game except Maces, Wands, and Shields. Don't assume because you "can" use something that you "need" it. End-Game Expectations The Hunter is usually the primary puller in Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, etc. One of their pets should have a decent amount of Fire Resist. You will be Feigning Death a lot, and be a valuable asset to the raid for long ranged DPS. See also See Starting a Hunter for some advice when starting out. See the Hunter Category for further information on the Hunter class. See Hunter PvP Tactics for PvP advice. See Hunter Talent Discussion for information on common Hunter Talent Builds. See Hunter resist guide for advice on choosing and getting resistance gear. Some good info at the official WoW forums: *Please Read FAQ links and Beast information *Pet pursuit/approach speed list Other links: *Good Intentions pet abilities table *Petopia *TKA Something *Hunter Burning Crusade PVP Clips - Beast Mastery Spec ---- Category:Classes Category:Hunters Category:Hunter Abilities Category:Dwarves